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Associative Conditioning Is a Robust Systemic Behavior in Unicellular Organisms: An Interspecies Comparison
Jose Carrasco-Pujante1, Carlos Bringas2, Iker Malaina3
1Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel.
Frontiers in Microbiology
|August 5, 2021
Summary
Amoeba cells exhibit associative conditioning, learning and remembering new migratory behaviors. This cellular learning is robust across species and may be widespread in unicellular organisms, enhancing their survival.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Behavioral Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Learning and memory are crucial for adaptive behavior.
- Conditioned responses have been observed in various organisms, but less is known about unicellular life.
- Preliminary observations suggested conditioned behavior in individual amoebae.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate associative conditioning in three species of amoebae.
- To quantitatively analyze the migratory patterns of conditioned amoebae.
- To determine if cellular associative conditioning is a widespread phenomenon in unicellular organisms.
Main Methods:
- Studied migration trajectories of over 2000 individual amoebae (Amoeba proteus, Metamoeba leningradensis, Amoeba borokensis).
- Analyzed properties of conditioned cells: response intensity, directionality, distance traveled, speed, and persistence.
- Compared experimental results with existing studies on cellular responses in diverse organisms.
Main Results:
- Amoebae species demonstrated associative conditioning, modifying systemic responses to stimuli.
- Conditioned migratory behavior was robust, consistent across species, and persisted long-term.
- Observed characteristics included long-duration conditioning, straight trajectories, and strong directional persistence.
Conclusions:
- Cellular associative conditioning is a significant characteristic of the studied amoebae species.
- This behavior may be widespread among unicellular organisms.
- Cellular learning enhances adaptive fitness in microenvironments.
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